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Gizmo
"Has it got a name, Dad?" "Yeah, Mogwai." "What?" "Mogwai; some Chinese word, I just call him Gizmo, he seems to like it." - Billy Peltzer and his father Randall Peltzer Gizmo (also referred to as '"Giz" '''by Billy) is one of the main characters in the Gremlins films. He is an adorable kind Mogwai who is the pet of Billy Peltzer. He doesn't seem to have a single bit of meanness within him, making him an Eternal, or a Mogwai who refuses to be evil. He used to be owned by Mr. Wing until the old man's death. Gizmo is kind and friendly and currently lives with Billy and Kate Peltzer in New York. Gizmo was voiced by Howie Mandel. Biography Origins Originally, Mogwai were created by an unknown scientist on an unknown planet (as stated in the Gremlins novel). It is unknown if Gizmo was one of the first Mogwai or if he was created by another Mogwai, but he was an Eternal, meaning that he was a Mogwai who refused to become a Gremlin and had not a single ounce of meanness in him. He may have been one of the few Mogwai who fell to Earth and became an inhabitant there, but eventually he met an old Chinese man known as Mr. Wing and became his pet. Wing lived in a shop that he owned in Chinatown where he sold junk. His grandson lived with them. Gizmo could not get wet, eat after midnight, or be exposed directly to sunlight. Getting wet would cause him to create more Mogwai who would be a lot less friendly, while feeding him after midnight would turn him into a gremlin, and being directly exposed to sunlight would kill him. This may have partially been why Mr. Wing kept him in the darkened shop, and why they seldom left it. The First Batch One day, a man by the name of Randal Peltzer "purchased" Gizmo from Mr. Wing after Wing's grandson tricked his grandfather and sold Gizmo to Peltzer, even after Mr. Wing had told him that he was not ready. Upon Peltzer returning to his home in Kingston Falls, he gave his son, Billy Peltzer, Gizmo, much to his joy. When Billy was showing Gizmo to his friend Pete Fountaine, Pete accidentally spilled water on Gizmo, spawning the first batch of gremlins. The first batch of Mogwai were mean-spirited and deliberately manipulated Billy into feeding them after midnight. It is implied that the first batch was jealous of Gizmo for being Billy's favorite. After the Mogwai were fed after midnight they went into cocoons and then hatched as Gremlins approximately 24 hours later. Upon hatching, the malicious gremlins ganged up on the terrified Gizmo and hung him to a dartboard while they threw darts at him until the leader, Stripe, threw him down the laundry chute. Four of the gremlins were wiped out in the Peltzer home, however Earl (a mogwai Billy had loaned to a doctor for study) and Stripe managed to escape. After Gizmo was found and rescued by Billy, who had thought him to be dead, the two tracked down Stripe to the YMCA, where they were unable to stop him from jumping into the pool and multiplying a thousand fold. When Billy failed to convince the sheriff of Kingston Falls about the gremlins that would attack the town, he and Gizmo got into his car which Billy succeeded in starting up. Arriving at Dorry's Tavern, they saved Billy's girlfriend Kate and hid from the gremlins in the Kingston Falls bank. Eventually, they found the gremlins in the local movie theater, where they (and Gizmo) were singing along to "Heigh-Ho" from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. While they were distracted, Billy, Kate, and Gizmo opened the gas main under the theater to cause it to explode, leaving only Stripe, who Billy went to stop from getting to more water. Gizmo, having escaped with Kate (who was then holding him), discovered that the sun was coming out and realized that Stripe could be killed by it. Using a toy car, Gizmo drove around the store in search of Billy and most of all, Stripe. Gizmo arrived at the greenhouse department in the store where Stripe was attempting to use the greenhouse fountaiin to recreate his army. Just as Stripe was about to shoot him, Gizmo opened the greenhouse blinds to let the sunlight in (being fortunate enough to fall into the bushes and not be exposed to the sunlight too) destroying the evil gremlin. Not long, he was taken back to New York City by Mr. Wing for safekeeping, but implies that one day he would give Gizmo back when they were "ready" to handle the responsibility of keeping him. Gizmo obviously cared deeply about Billy, his last words before leaving the Peltzer home being, "Bye bye, Billy." He also said goodbye to the family dog, Barney, who he had gotten along with fairly well. The New Batch A few years later, a company known as Clamp Enterprises had wanted to take Mr. Wing's store into service, even attempting to bribe him with a television. Despite being rejected, Clamp's associates left behind the television, which Gizmo (still interested in it) turned on and watched a Rambo movie. Six weeks later, Mr. Wing passed away, allowing Clamp Enterprises to take the land it was on. Inside, Gizmo, who had been freed by Mr. Wing before he died, was seen sad and moaning over his death before construction workers of Clamp Incorporated began tearing it down. Gizmo ran out of the store, only to be captured by Lewis, a lab assistant to Dr. Catheter. Dr. Catheter and his assistants studied Gizmo, particularly his love of music. "I'm Ready", by Fats Domino was his favorite song. He even once danced to it and attempted to use his dance moves as a method of escaping. During his time in the lab, his song was heard by employees and it found its way around the buliding, which was lucky for Gizmo as Billy, who worked in the Clamp Enterprises building, heard a mailman singing it while he was making a delivery. Billy soon realized that the scientists must have been torturing him, and Billy snuck into the lab and took Gizmo. When Billy left Gizmo for a 'business meeting' with his boss Marla (who obviously had romantic feelings for Billy), he told Gizmo to wait in a desk drawer until Kate stopped by the office to pick him up. However, Gizmo curiously came out and decided to explore Billy's office. Unfortunately, the janitor came around at this time to work on the water fountain which, unfortunately sprayed water in the wrong direction and caused it to spray very far. Gizmo, knowing what would happen, attempted to keep away from the stream of water by hiding under Billy's desk, however, another stray blast from the fountain hit the top of Billy's desk and slid down the front of Billy's sketch of Kingston Falls and then to the side, directly over Gizmo and dripped on him, leaving the poor little Mogwai powerless to prevent himself from spawning a new batch of evil Mogwai, Mohawk, George, Lenny and Daffy. The former three ganged up on Gizmo and trapped him in the ventilation shaft before going to look for something to eat after midnight. Daffy was, meanwhile, mistaken for Gizmo by Kate who took him home with her. Gizmo wandered around the shaft for hours before finding himself falling out into the basement where the gremlins had just hatched from their cocoons. Before Gizmo knew it, he was attacked by Mohawk, the reincarnation of Stripe who desired revenge for Gizmo destroying him in the first film. The insidious monster tortured the little Mogwai in various scenes: first shocking him with electrical cords, then shoving his head into a photocopier, followed by ripping bits of his fur off with velcro tape, and finally tying him to a toy track and running him over with a toy train, where Mohawk left him. Recalling the Rambo movie he had seen, Gizmo decided to fight back. After attempting an exercise regimen with bar bells and a small punching bag, Gizmo fashioned a makeshift bow out of a paperclip and rubberband while making an arrow out of a pencil and whiteout bottle. Just as the new spider-hybrid Mohawk was about to kill Kate and Marla, Gizmo (dressed similarly to that of Rambo) burst out of the air vent, wearing a red headband. Lighting his arrow, Gizmo fired it at Mohawk, setting him on fire and killing him. Afterwards, he was kept in a box so he wouldn't be harmed while the other gremlins were destroyed. Thereafter, Billy's boss suggested modeling a new line of merchandise after Gizmo, though she thought he would look better without the bandana, which Gizmo refused to lose. He was last seen going to live with Billy and Kate and asking if they had cable, specifically HBO and Nick at Nite. Personality Despite not being wicked and vicious like the gremlins, Gizmo has shown he's just as adept as they are with weapons and electrical devices, such as being able to know how to work an electrical keyboard, turning on a television, operating a toy car, playing a trumpet, and making an effective bow and arrow out of office supplies. This might be a reference to his name, as the word "gizmo" means a gadget. Gizmo has shown a love for television which he developed while in the Peltzer's care in the first movie. While Mr. Wing found the idea of the mogwai watching tv ridiculous, it has proven useful for Gizmo as in the first film, he watched a movie involving a race and became interested in cars, or as he called them 'Vroom-Vroom'. In the climax, Gizmo drove a toy car through the department store to reach the greenhouse department before Stripe's new army was born. In the second movie, television proves its use for Gizmo again as he recalled what the hero of the Rambo movie did and mimiced those tactics with amazing results. Gizmo was responsible for the destruction of the leaders of both batches (interestingly, Stripe met his demise following the destruction of his army, whereas Mohawk was destroyed before). It should be noted that Gizmo took a much more direct approach in Mohawk's destruction than Stripe's, as he shot Mohawk with a flaming arrow in the second movie, whereas he indirectly destroyed Stripe by exposing him to sunlight in the original. Gizmo had become much more assertive than he was in the first movie because, as Billy said, "they pushed him too far". According to the novelization of the first film, mogwai are the result of genetic manipulations by an alien scientist to create a creature that would evoke good-naturedness and goodwill amongst the galaxy. However a slight miscalculation caused all but 1 in 10,000 to be mischievous and/or evil and the transformation mogwai can go through being totally unintended. Only one in ten thousand are gentle, and as a result is hated by their brethren. Also, this previously mentioned mogwai is effectively immortal. As Gizmo is gentle, and has a long list of historical figures that have owned him, it is clear that he is this mogwai type. If this mogwai eats after midnight though, he will lose his longevity, becoming a typical gremlin. However, as this is never mentioned in the movie, the credence to this nature of the mogwai/Gizmo is unknown. Relationships Mr. Wing Mr. Wing was Gizmo's owner and caretaker. Although Mr. Wing was very strict, Gizmo loved Mr. Wing very much. When Gizmo was sold to Randall Peltzer by Mr. Wing's grandson, who had tricked his grandfather, Mr. Wing appeared to be furious about this, being that the Gremlins novel suggests that his grandson had been in huge trouble after Mr. Wing discovered what he had done. Mr. Wing eventually found Gizmo at the Peltzer family home in Kingston Falls, shortly after a gremlin attack had taken place, and returned him to his home in Chinatown. Gizmo was sad about this, but also happy, because he missed Mr. Wing, but knew it would be hard leaving his new family. Gizmo and Mr. Wing did have different philosophies on many things, such as their opinions of television, but they do still care for each other, and Gizmo was obviously saddened by Wing's death, being that he was seen grieving over the death of Mr. Wing shortly after it happened. Wing had, however, let him out of his cage just moments before his death, much to Gizmo's relief, being that soon after the small junk shop Mr. Wing owned had been destroyed. After Wing's death, Gizmo had ended up in the hands of evil scientists, although he was rescued by his former owner, Billy, who ended up taking over as his owner and caretaker, something that Mr. Wing had hinted at happening once Billy was ready. Stripe Stripe is Gizmo's arch nemesis and enemy. Gizmo was not happy as soon as he discovered that he had spawned Stripe and his minions, and they had never gotten along since then. Their rivalry was first shown when Stripe spat at Gizmo and his friend, the Peltzer family dog Barney. When Stripe tricked Billy into feeding him and the other Mogwai that had been spawned after midnight, Gizmo appeared to have been trying to warn Billy, although it proved ineffective. After Stripe and the other Mogwai hatched into gremlins, they tortured Gizmo. Stripe even pinned Gizmo to Billy's dartboard and threw darts at him, along with the other gremlins. Gizmo then joined forces with Billy and his girlfriend Kate to defeat the gremlins. Kate and Billy were able to blow up the movie theater in which the gremlins were hiding, although one had escaped, and of course, it was Stripe. When Billy and Stripe went head-to-head in the nearby concessions store, Billy seemed doomed after Stripe wandered into the fountain in the store and began to spawn thousands of more gremlins. Gizmo was able to come to the rescue, though, when he jumped in a Barbie car and drove towards the greenhouse. It seemed to be fate, however, when Gizmo crashed and flew into the air, right where a string hung that would pull open a tarp that would expose the sunlight from the hidden window to the plants... and Stripe. Gizmo was able to kill Stripe, defeating the last gremlin. Randall Peltzer Randall Peltzer was the man who had "bought" Gizmo and given him to his son, Billy, as a Christmas present. Gizmo appeared to learn to trust Randall, although frightened by him at first. This is especially shown when Randall's wife, Lynn attempted to take a picture of Gizmo, although the camera had flashed, terrifying Gizmo, who jumped out of Billy's lap and clung to Randall, who he probably believed could protect him. Randall also seemed fascinated by the new Mogwai that Gizmo had spawned, much to the little Mogwai's annoyance. Randall did appear saddened by the departure of Gizmo when Mr. Wing took Gizmo back to Chinatown. Randall was also the one to give Gizmo his name. Billy Peltzer Billy Peltzer was the owner of Gizmo in the first film. Gizmo and Billy had gotten along instantly, and even when Gizmo spawned the new gremlins, Billy seemed to care for Gizmo the most. When the gremlins hatched, Billy returned to his house to search for Gizmo after saving his mother from a group of malicious gremlins who had savagely attacked her and left her scarred and bearing several minor injuries. At first, Billy believed Gizmo to be dead, however, Gizmo proved to be okay, with only a few very minor cuts. Gizmo then accompanied Billy to help find Stripe, only to find that the evil gremlin had already broken into the Kingston Falls YMCA and jumped into the swimming pool, spawning hundreds of more gremlins. Billy and Gizmo had then gone to try and convince the Kingston Falls sheriff, Frank, and his partner, Brent, to help them, although they did not believe them. (Soon after they discovered this was true after seeing that Ruby Deagle had been murdered by the gremlins.) Gizmo then accompanied Billy to help save his girlfriend, Kate, from the local pub (Dorry's Tavern) from gremlins, most of whom were drunk. After escaping, the three of them snuck into the local movie theater and blew it up, killing all of the gremlins but one... Stripe. During the final confrontation in a nearby department store between Billy and Stripe, Gizmo came to the rescue when he pulled open the tarp that was blocking a window, which concealed morning sunlight that would kill Stripe, and Gizmo saved Billy, killing Stripe. Soon after, Gizmo's original owner, Mr. Wing, came to take Gizmo back to his original home in Chinatown, much to Billy's sadness. Gizmo learned his first human words thanks to Billy, though. Upon his departure, Gizmo said, "Bye-bye, Billy!" to Billy. Soon after, the two were reunited when Gizmo had been captured by evil scientists in a science lab in Clamp Tower. Billy had been working there and rescued Gizmo. When Billy left Gizmo in his desk drawer to go out with his boss, Marla, Gizmo jumped out, curious and longing to explore. He was sprayed by water from a broken drinking fountain, however, spawning new Mogwai who trapped Gizmo in the ventilation shaft. Billy had told Kate, who worked in the building with him, to pick Gizmo up, however, she took the wrong Mogwai, whose name was Daffy. Gizmo had eventually fallen out of the shaft and had been tortured by the Mogwai, specifically Mohawk, the leader. Gizmo went on to defeat the other gremlins with Billy and the other humans, and then moved in with Billy and Kate, who were supposedly wed soon after. Barney Barney (the Peltzer family's dog) appeared to be somewhat jealous of Gizmo, although Gizmo had instantly liked him. The two found a curious interest in one another, especially Gizmo, who referred to Barney as "Woof-Woof". Barney and Gizmo both appeared to dislike Stripe and the other Mogwai, however, as Gizmo was seen playing with Barney when Billy first showed his father the new Mogwai that Gizmo had spawned. Barney also showed up right after Gizmo had killed Stripe. Gizmo appeared to care about Barney, and he even said goodbye to "Woof-Woof" when Mr. Wing came to take him back to Chinatown, something he said to only one other character, Billy. Kate Beringer Kate first saw Gizmo when Billy rescued her from the gremlins attacking Dorry's Pub, which she had been working in at the time. She was terrified of him at first, because she thought he was a gremlin, however Billy helped her adjust to Gizmo. She even held him. When Billy went after Stripe in the department store, Kate had been ordered to find the room in which all the lights in the building were controlled. She brought Gizmo with her, because Billy trusted her, so Gizmo obviously trusted her, too. Kate seemed somewhat sad when Mr. Wing took Gizmo with him back to Chinatown. When Billy found Gizmo soon after in the Clamp Tower, in which he and Kate had been employed, Billy told Kate that he had found Gizmo, which obviously terrified her, as she started to freak out. She begrudgingly went to his office and got "Gizmo", although she soon after discovered that the Mogwai she had brought home was Daffy, one of the new Mogwai accidentally spawned by Gizmo, who had been trapped in the air duct by Mohawk and his other followers. When Kate discovered this, Billy and she had to use a cover-up to get Mr. and Mrs. Futterman out of their apartment so that they could return Daffy to Clamp Tower and find Gizmo. Eventually, Kate and Billy's boss, Marla had been trapped by Mohawk, who was now a spider gremlin after drinking a strange chemical in Dr. Catheter's lab. Kate and Marla's lives had been threatened by Mohawk, who had trapped them in his spider web, however, Gizmo came to the rescue and killed Mohawk, saving Kate and Marla. After that, Kate was seen carrying Gizmo around in his little box and had learned to accept him, because Gizmo moved in with her and Billy, who were supposedly wed soon afterwards. Behind the scenes * In both films, Gizmo was voiced by actor Howie Mandel. * He was never shown to have eaten anything in both movies. However, a commercial that advertised Gremlins Cereal shown Gizmo eating Gremlins' Cereal. * Gizmo might not have known it was after midnight in the first film when Billy fed the Mogwais some chicken legs. Gizmo didn't want one, possibly two other reasons: he doesn't like to eat meat or he wasn't hungry. * Gizmo has musical talent since he can play a trumpet (that was actually perfect in size for him) and knew how to play the electronic keyboard. * Gizmo is the only known mogwai to not have a speck of hatred or evil in him, unlike his fellow mogwai who are often cruel, mean, abusive, and vicious, although he did have a bit of hatred when Mohawk kept bullying him and got revenge. * The Gizmo puppet used in the first film was not used in the second film, however the much cuter Gizmo puppet used in Gremlins 2: The New Batch was featured on the DVD cover of Gremlins. * In the first film Gizmo spawned five mogwais, however in the second film he spawned only four (It may be due the quantity of water) * Until he got revenge on Mohawk, Gizmo rarely ever defended or spoke up for himself. * Originally, Gizmo was supposed to be the Gremlin leader in ''Gremlins, ''not Stripe. * It is implied Gizmo had spawned Gremlins before the events of ''Gremlins, ''as he already seemed to know that Stripe was trouble moments after he spawned him. Video Games Gizmo has been a playable character in many video games based on the Gremlins movies. He is the sole playable character in the Gremlins 2 game for the NES and Game Boy. In Gremlins: Unleashed for the Game Boy Color and Gremlins: Stripe vs. Gizmo for the Game Boy Advance, Gizmo is one of two playable characters, the other being Stripe. He is the final boss if the player chosses to play as Stripe. If the player decides to play as Gizmo, Stripe will be the final boss. Gizmo is also the main character and inspiration for the upcoming Gremlins video game, Gizmo: The Game, which will be released November 18, 2011. Gremlin Invasion Gizmo also was one of the main characters in the Warner Brothers ride Gremlin Invasion, in which Gizmo accompanies the rider on their quest to defeat the gremlins who have taken over the Warner Brothers studio. The other main character of the ride had been the Warner Brothers character ALF. Fact File ﻿ Category:Gremlins and Mogwai Category:Protagonists Category:Mogwai Category:Gremlins